While the role and importance of affirmative action continues to be debated, researchers have found that individuals evaluate affirmative action policies differently. However, few studies have examined how prospective graduate students view affirmative action policies in graduate school admission. This study attempts to uncover prospective graduate students' perceptions and feelings toward both affirmative action and individuals thought to benefit from affirmative action policies. Participants were interviewed prior to and after acceptance into graduate programs. The theoretical concept of illusory correlation was utilized to analyze participants' verbal transcripts. Finally, we present a conceptual framework to assist college administrators, faculty, and student personnel in developing programs to enhance individual perceptions of affirmative action programming and related societal issues. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)